15 Headless Bodies Found in Mexico

MEXICO CITY — Police discovered the bodies of 15 decapitated men outside a shopping mall in Acapulco early Saturday, bringing the death toll from a day of raging drug violence in the Pacific resort to 27, a top official said.

The headless bodies were found on a walkway outside the Playa Sendero shopping mall, about a mile from the sweep of high-rise hotels on the scenic bay that made Acapulco Mexico's first famous beach resort.

A statement by the Public Security office in Guerrero state said police received a call at 12:44 a.m. alerting them to a burning vehicle near Playa Sendero, a popular two-year-old shopping center with an indoor ice rink.

When state police arrived, they discovered a white Nissan SUV on fire, and four other abandoned vehicles, one with its motor running, the statement said.

Police also found the beheaded corpses _ and, some distance away, their heads, piled together. Nearby, two white posters with black lettering bore messages from a drug cartel.